


Creatures in my Mind

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [61]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Creatures, Dark Imagery, Exhaustion, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-31
Updated: 2018-01-31
Packaged: 2019-03-12 00:10:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13535514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: It's Keith's turn to experience nightmares and children have active imaginations.





	Creatures in my Mind

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Heyo, are you still taking requests for your Single Dad Shiro Verse? Because I have a FEW prompts to submit! First one is: Keith has been having nightmares lately, and he's been trying his hardest to keep them from his dad, not wanting to pester him. However one night, the nightmare turns into a night terror, waking shiro. Angst, hurt/comfort, cuddles and love from daddy shiro. Keith would be about 9 years old in this. Thank you! I'll post the other prompts after a while. :)"

 

                He couldn’t run.

                He couldn’t scream.

                He was trapped.

                Trapped with dark, black claws reaching for him – inches away from his face. All around him were eyes, starring unblinking and red like blood. His skin itched and his throat scratched when he tried to scream, but he not a sound came out. The claws were closing in on him and his heart was hammering painfully in his ribcage.

                He couldn’t breathe.

                He couldn’t cry.

                _“We got you. There’s no escape.”_

                He opened his mouth once more to try and scream, just as the claws closed in around his neck.

x.V.x

                Keith’s eyes snapped open and he shot up. Wordless, he looked around the room while sucking in heavy, deep breaths. He could feel his body trembling and for a few split seconds Keith was unsure of where he was. All he could see was a darkness around his room and he could still feel those claws around his throat. Quickly, Keith touched his neck and was relieved to find that there were no claws wrapped around their neck.

                After a few minutes of trying to suck in as much air as possible and breathing deeply, Keith could feel his heart rate beginning to return to normal. Immediately, he reached out for his stuffed lion that had fallen off the bed. Despite the fact that he was nine and _too old_ for things like stuffed toys, Keith still kept his lion after all these years. Whenever he was extremely upset or nervous, the lion tended to help him calm down better.

                Tonight, it took longer than normal for Keith to calm down.

                _It was just a nightmare. None of it was real._ Keith repeated these thoughts over and over. He continued taking deep breaths and snuggling into his lion. _You’re safe. None of it was real._ Eventually, Keith could begin to feel himself calm down.

                He glanced over at his door, seeing it opened just a crack, as it was every night so Shiro could easily come in if Keith needed him. Keith shivered, remembering how nimble the claws in his nightmares were and how they could easily crawl through the crack. For a moment he debated whether or not he wanted to get out of bed and go to his dad, because right now he was really scared.

                He knew that his dad would be able to make him feel better again (maybe he’d even let Keith sleep in his room tonight), because his dad always mad everything better. But then Keith realized that the hallway was even _darker_ than his bedroom and that wasn’t good.

                Then Keith thought that his dad was tired. He had to work a lot at the shelter with the Veterans and animals this week. Keith was aware that his dad was coming home more tired than usual, when he fell asleep downstairs in front of the TV _every_ night this week. Which meant that his dad was probably exhausted.

                And he was asleep.

                Keith figured he shouldn’t bother his dad over a silly nightmare. Especially not when Keith was nine-years-old. He was practically grown.

                “I’m fine. It was just a nightmare. There’s no need to wake daddy up.” Keith mumbled, burrowing under the covers even further. His eyes darted around the room momentarily, before landing on something moving towards his bed. Keith felt his heart leap into his throat, as raw terror filled his small body. However, Keith’s terrors quickly dispelled when he realized that it was Red on his bed now, and curling up beside him.

                Breathing a sigh of relief, Keith rubbed her behind her ear. “Okay, we don’t need to wake daddy up now that you’re here.” Keith nodded towards Red who huffed in agreement. Red would protect Keith. No monster would ever try to get them now.

                Slowly Keith closed his eyes and fell asleep once more.

x.V.x

                Keith hoped the nightmares would eventually stop after a couple of days. He was no strangers to nightmares, but normally Keith had them every once in a while and then they stopped. Then Keith could get over them in a few days and everything would go back to normal.

                Except the nightmares weren’t stopping, and on top of that, Keith was having nightmares every single night. Despite having Red’s comforting presence, despite clutching his stuffed lion and despite having found his old nightlight.

                Keith would wake up, tangled in his sheets and sweating profusely. His heart would race and his eyes were wide an unseeing. Sometimes Keith couldn’t even wake up and Red was forced to shake him awake.

                Meaning, Keith hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep in several weeks now and it was starting to take a toll on the poor boy. Still he kept quiet. Luckily, Red could always wake him up and she never was resorted to getting Shiro. Typically Keith took an hour or two to calm down entirely and would return back to bed. He kept quiet, in fear that if he went to his dad with this problem then his dad would be even more tired than usual.

                He was still working the same long hours and coming home tired, but he always put Keith first. He listened when Keith talked about his dad at school, gave Keith a bath and read him a story. They still ate dinner and desert together but Keith knew his dad was tired. And his dad would only be even more tired if he woke him up in the middle of the night for a stupid old nightmare. Keith would be ashamed if he couldn’t even handle this nightmares without his dad’s help.

                So, Keith didn’t say anything about the nightmares. Instead he suffered every night, always in fear and running. Admittedly, if Shiro wasn’t so tired from work he would have noticed Keith’s lack of focus and energy quicker. But even he was running on fumes on some days.

                Keith’s nights often went the same as tonight.

                He couldn’t run. He couldn’t scream.

                He was desperately trying to get away and clawing at the darkness around him. Tall, looming creatures of a gangly stature with grotesque skin and twisted features surrounded Keith. Their mouths were full of pointed teeth like razor sharp blades and their eyes were huge, pupil-less, and staring at him. Always staring at him.

                He could feel their breaths on his neck, making the hairs on his body raise. He could feel the tips of their claws dragging along his arms and his back. No matter how hard he fought to get away, Keith never moved from the place he was trapped in.

                There were no doors. No windows. No way out.

                Their claws were always wrapped around his throat. His arms. His legs.

                He couldn’t breathe or scream. Terror was instilled in the blood of his body and he needed to _wake up. Wake up. Wake up._

                And Keith would eventually awaken. Whether by himself or Red. He would always lie awake afterwards, trying to calm himself down. Sometimes he could fall back into a dreamless sleep and sometimes he would lie awake until Shiro “woke” him up for school.

                Keith was so tired.

                He was starting to become sluggish in his work and movements. He was nearly falling asleep at school or during practice. Yet every time he almost fell asleep, he would snap awake, terrified of the monstrous creatures that invaded his mind.

                _They were everywhere._

                Eventually Shiro began to notice. He saw the dark circles under Keith’s eyes and the way that Keith was growing more and more tired throughout the weeks. For a while, Shiro had chalked it up to his own tired imagination. He hadn’t been sleeping lately with the long work hours.

                But soon enough, Shiro noticed that it wasn’t his imagination and Keith _was_ exhausted. His son looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks. Which was a concern, because Shiro always watched him fall asleep after reading a story and he always had to wake him up for school.

                The more that Shiro observed his son, the more worried he got. Keith was struggling to stay awake during simple things like breakfast or watching a movie. He was starting to fall behind in class and more than once, Shiro caught Keith working on one page of homework for _hours._ Shiro felt his heart ache at the idea that something might be terribly wrong and he only noticed now. Shiro felt ashamed that he didn’t pay closer attention to his son when Keith was most likely hurting.

                Which led Shiro to request less hours with work, despite being the boss. Thankfully, his employees and the veterans were very understanding. Work was finally starting to slow down, pace-wise, so Shiro didn’t feel quite as guilty leaving earlier than anyone. Soon, enough Shiro spent more time at home and his own sleep patterns were improving until they were back to normal.

                Shiro was hoping that by changing his schedule and improving his exhaustion, the same would happen to Keith if he was home more. However, nothing changed. Keith continued to look more and more tired every day that past. It made Shiro’s heart squeeze and his chest tightened.

                _What could be wrong?_ Shiro worried that Keith wouldn’t come to him about anything being wrong, since he wasn’t admitting anything quite yet. With each day that went by, Keith became more and more withdrawn and Shiro’s worry only increased.

                Slowly, he tried to observe Keith’s sleep patterns and keep an eye out at night. He would stay awake downstairs for a few hours after Keith fell asleep and waited. He waited to see if Keith got up or moved around at all, but he never heard anything and eventually was forced to go to bed.

                It wouldn’t do Keith any good if he was still exhausted.

                Unfortunately, that was when Keith’s nightmares usually started.

x.V.x

                This time it was different.

                Keith wasn’t trapped in a room without windows or doors. In fact, Keith was in his own house. A perfect replica, right down to the hole above the stair railing, curtesy of Red and Uncle Kuro. The house was dark. Too dark.

                It felt like the shadows around Keith were moving but he couldn’t see anything. Instead, he nervously wandered around the house, hearing only the sound of his bare feet on the ground. The house was devoid of any noise. No snoring from his dad or huffing from Red. Keith couldn’t even hear the obnoxious hum of the refrigerator. It was too quiet.

                Keith slowly felt something drag across his back and he opened his mouth to scream.

                Once again he couldn’t.

                Keith jumped back and this time he was able to run away, as a gangling monster emerged from the shadows behind him. Its white eyes were bulging out of its deformed skull, scanning useless around the room. Yet, Keith could feel when its eyes were on him.

                He bolted out of the kitchen and into the dining room, only to stop dead in his tracks.

                The TV was on, but no sound came out. There was nothing on the screen save for a blank, white image. It illuminated most of the room, giving Keith a perfect view of the floor.

                Where several bodies were splayed.

                Keith jerked back, wishing he could scream upon realization that these were people he _knew._ They were his uncle Kuro and his grandmother and grandfather. Keith’s heart felt as if it were going to burst out of his chest.

                Their eyes were blank and unseeing, pupils clouded over _(looking so much like those monsters)_ and their skin was paper white. The positions that their bodies were splayed in look painful and abnormal to Keith.

                _“You cannot escape. We are here. You cannot escape. We are here.”_

                Keith scrambled away from the TV after hearing a soft voice speak. He could see movement within the shadows along the room and Keith bolted for the stairs. He needed to find his daddy – he had to make sure his daddy was okay.

                Along the way, Keith stumbled, silently crying out as more and more bodies piled up along the stairs and hallways. Each as pale and with eyes unseeing as Kuro and his grandparents.

                _Lance, Hunk and Pidge._

                _Uncle ‘Tok, and Ulaz. Uncle Kolivan._

_Allura. Coran._

_Even Red._

                Keith nearly threw himself into the room that was always his dad’s. He scrambled away from the door when the shadows looking in the hallway, engulfing the prone bodies of his family. Ever so slowly, Keith turned around to find his dad’s room empty. He stifled a silent sob and rubbed at his eye.

                _“You cannot escape. We are here.”_

                Keith could feel a breath ghosting on his neck and claws scratching along his back. His heart leapt in to his throat and his eyes widened. He could feel his body trembling as he willed himself to scream or run. To do something.

                Yet when the creature turned Keith back around, Keith was met with the grotesque site of a monster wearing his dad’s face, leering down at him.

                _“Keith?”_

                Finally Keith screamed.

x.V.x

                Shiro jumped back as if burned when Keith screamed loudly. This night he had stayed up later than usual, determined to find out the truth. He’d even crept towards Keith’s room and waited to see if anything would happen. He was then pleasantly surprised when Keith started whimpering and whining. And Shiro nearly slapped himself.

                _Nightmares. Of course it was nightmares._ Shiro was no stranger to terrifying nightmares due to his PTSD. He was more than a little upset that he hadn’t figured it out earlier because he knew firsthand how bad a nightmare could get.

                Shiro was quick to enter Keith’s room where he saw his son writhering under his sheets and quietly crying out. Red was up and doing her best to try and awaken her master but Shiro could tell it was doing nothing.

                “Oh Keith,” Shiro breathed before racing over towards Keith’s bed. He quickly attempted to untangle Keith from the sheets, ignoring how his heart broken when Keith flinched upon contact. “Keith? Sweetheart? Can you hear me? It’s daddy.”

                Still Keith wouldn’t wake up and his nightmare looked to be getting worse.

                “Keith? Keith? You’re okay!” Shiro tried repeatedly and still Keith wouldn’t waken. “Keith?” That was when Keith screamed a blood curdling scream. A scream that chilled Shiro down to the bones and one that he felt in his soul. It was a scream full of pure terror.

                “Keith!” Shiro tried again when Keith continued to scream. Desperately, Shiro pulled Keith into his arms and did his best to calm Keith’s flailing arms and rock him. His heart was pounding and he could feel tears beginning to pool in his eyes. “Keith, honey, I need you to wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

                Shiro felt like took more than a few minutes before Keith’s eyes to snap open. Silence followed while Shiro and Keith stared at one another, before Keith burst into horrified screams. Afraid, Shiro tried to hug Keith closer only for Keith’s sobs to increase.

                “Hey, hey, hey, sweetheart, you’re safe!” Shiro whispered soothing, patting down Keith’s hair. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Nothing’s going to hurt you here. Daddy’s got you. Daddy’ll protect you.” Shiro continued to soothe his son, rocking them both back and forth. Keith’s sobs went on for a little while longer before he had exhausted himself to pitiful sniffles.

                Finally, Keith spoke,” D-Daddy?”

                “Yeah, baby, it’s me. I’m right here.” Shiro whispered softly, looking directly into Keith’s eyes. Keith’s eyes were searching all over Shiro’s face, looking for something.

                “Y-You’re not a m-monster?” And Shiro felt his heart crack again.

                “No, no. I’m not a monster. I’m your daddy. Right here and forever, my little star.” Shiro replied. Keith sniffled but that seemed to do the trick. Keith slowly calmed down and nodded to himself. “Did you have a nightmare?” Shiro finally asked when he realized Keith wasn’t going to say anything. He felt Keith stiffen in his arms, before eventually nodding.

                “Alright, I’m sorry. It sounded very frightening. Do you wanna talk about?” Shiro asked hesitantly.

                Keith was silent for a bit. “It was so scary. I was so scared.” Keith whispered.

                “I know, I know. I bet it was awful, baby.” Shiro cooed.

                “Everyone was dead. Uncle Kuro, grandpa, Hunk, Allura. Everyone.” Keith continued and Shiro felt his stomach drop. _This was bad._

                “Everyone’s okay. I promise you that everyone is alive and sleeping right now. If you want we can call every one of them tomorrow just to be sure.” Shiro said. Keith didn’t say anything but he did timidly nod. “Okay sweetheart, we’ll sit down and call everyone in the morning so you can talk to them.”

                “Okay,” Keith whispered. Shiro didn’t say anything more a while longer.

                Eventually, he had to ask, “Keith, have you been having nightmares for a while now?”

                Keith looked away.

                “Keith?”

                “…Yes. A few weeks.”

                “Oh sweetheart,” Shiro’s heart was breaking yet again. _How did I not notice?_ “Why didn’t you say anything, or come to me?”

                “You were so tired. I didn’t want to wake you up for a dumb nightmare.” Keith admitted.

                “No! Keith, it’s not dumb. That is no reason to not wake me up. I want to help you, and I can’t do that if you leave me in the dark.” Shiro said softly. “If I was having nightmares, you wouldn’t want me to keep it a secret from you, would you?”

                “No daddy.” Keith said quickly.

                “Then, even if I do have to work a lot, it doesn’t matter how tired I am or what time it is, you can _always_ wake me up if you’re scared.” Shiro explained as he stroked back Keith’s hair. “Promise me that no matter what, you’ll come to me if you get scared again?” He slowly held out his pinky. It took a few minutes before Keith eventually linked pinkies.

                “I promise daddy.”

                “Thank you, my star, now how about you sleep in daddy’s room for a while?”

                “Can lion and Red come too?”

                “Of course, I expected them to come too.”

                In the morning, Shiro down with Keith and called everyone they knew. Most were surprised to hear Keith calling them so early but after hearing Keith’s teary greeting and Shiro’s brief explanation, everyone was reassuring and promising to hang out with Keith as soon as they could.

                Keith’s nightmares didn’t instantly go away but now that Shiro was aware of them, he was there to help Keith as much as he could.

               


End file.
